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Singapore's retail sales up 2.2 pct in October

Xinhua, December 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Singapore's retail sales increased 2.2 percent in October on a year-on-year basis, mainly due to higher sales of motor vehicles, the Department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) said on Thursday.

Retail sales dropped 0.3 percent year-on-year excluding motor vehicles, said SingStat in a report. The total retail sales value in October was estimated at 3.7 billion Singapore dollars (2.6 billion U.S. dollars), higher than the 3.6 billion Singapore dollars (2.5 billion U.S. dollars) during the same period last year.

While on a month-on-month basis, retail sales increased 1.7 percent in October. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales edged up by 1.5 percent.

Sales for motor vehicles rose 14.5 percent in October year-on-year, the highest increase across all sectors. Sales for recreational goods, petrol service stations and watches and jewelry registered an increase of 5.6 percent, 3.4 percent, and 1.3 percent respectively.

On the contrary, computers and telecommunications equipment fell the most, recording an 8.1 percent decline in October year-on-year. It was followed by wearing apparel and footwear which sank 3.5 percent; while furniture and household equipment dropped 3.2 percent.

As for food and beverage services, sales for the sector in October rose 0.8 percent year-on-year, but post a 3.2-percent decrease on a month-on-month basis. The total sales value for this sector was estimated at 689 million Singapore dollars (479 million U.S. dollars), higher than the 683 million Singapore dollars (475 million U.S. dollars) in October 2015.

The Retail Sales Index and the Food and Beverage Services Index measure the short-term performance of retail and food and beverage service industries based on their sales records. The sales figures exclude taxes. Endit